DC res­i­dents com­plain new anti-theft mea­sures in gro­cery stores are dystopi­an

Major Wash­ing­ton, D.C., gro­cers are tar­get­ing ram­pant shoplift­ing with mea­sures some shop­pers find dis­con­cert­ing. 
Cus­tomers at Giant Food, Har­ris Teeter, and Safe­way have noticed new mea­sures imple­ment­ed by gro­cers to crack down on retail theft. 
At Giant, shop­pers must com­ply with a ban on large bags enact­ed last Thurs­day at select Wash­ing­ton stores. The com­pa­ny not­ed in a state­ment that any­thing larg­er than 14-by-14-by‑6 inch­es is not wel­come. 
Har­ris Teeter start­ed check­ing cus­tomers’ receipts last month, adding in a state­ment that it will also pro­hib­it suit­cas­es, over­sized back­packs, and roller bags to “main­tain a safe shop­ping expe­ri­ence and con­tin­ue pro­vid­ing the best ser­vice and goods at com­pet­i­tive prices to our cus­tomers.”
Safe­way has fol­lowed suit. In Feb­ru­ary, the gro­cer imple­ment­ed elec­tron­ic gates that pre­vent cus­tomers from leav­ing with­out a receipt.
The enhanced secu­ri­ty at gro­cery stores h …